“No; but I know! A curtain-ring! Don’t you see, you fasten the curtain-ring, it’s brass, to the mast, and put the rope through, and it runs easy—brass is smooth.”
“Of course. Who’s that?”
Some small stones came rattling in at the open window, and two voices shouted,—
“I say. Holloa!”
Bevis and Mark went to the window and saw two of their friends, Bill and Wat, on the garden path below.
“When’s the war going to begin?” asked Wat.
“Tell us about the war,” said Bill.
“The war’s not ready,” said Bevis.
“Well how long is it going to be?”
“Make haste.”